One of our cats will sit for treats, and comes when she's called. My wife taught her that.

The same cat also taught herself a trick by accident. Back before we moved, we lived in an apartment that was about half a floor off the ground. The cat isn't the most... graceful of cats, so she'd fall off every now and then. However, we would never be able to go out and get her, because being outside freaked her out.

No, what she did instead, was sit in front of the window and cry, until I got her blanket and lowered it down. She would then grab onto it, and let me hoist her up. We called it "the cat elevator". Worked every time, too.

Cats are smart, and can be taught tricks with positive reinforcement and patience.

With my cats I get the feeling that it's not so much that they won't learn, it's that they always push the boundaries of the rewards system. They will do something if it gets a reward, but they'll aggressively try to "negotiate" so they will get more for less effort, and they are willing to break off negotiations completely if they get the feeling you are asserting too much dominance overall.

They totally refuse the "master - pet" relationship, and instead sort of settle into camaraderie. They give you "gifts" (dead stuff) and affection and ask for the same in return.

And they clearly enjoy your company as you enjoy theirs. Sometimes it may seem like they are ignoring you in the moment, but over years you will see that they clearly prefer to be in the same room as you, even when they are just sleeping or relaxing, and don't really want anything.

Cats also have more of an attitude, whereas dogs generally only want to please their master in any way they can.

That cat I mentioned above could be a spiteful bitch if the mood struck her. During her second heat (we got her fixed right after that), she started seeing my wife as "competition" for my attention, which was kinda creepy. She did make me laugh once though - My wife didn't find it quite as funny:

She (the wife) had left her handbag on the couch, leaning against one of the armrests. The bag was open. All of a sudden, we hear a loud meowl from the couch, and turn around to see the cat sitting on the armrest. She waits for us both to look at her, then gives my wife a look of utter spite, and sprays into her handbag. Probably the biggest "fuck you" I've seen a cat do.

One of the biggest differences between cats and dogs is in how they view their owners. Cats know the difference between themselves and humans. They know they are a cat. Dogs can't tell that they are different from humans and simply feel a part of the "pack" so to speak.

Have you ever met a completely feral cat? My friend has some on his farm. I would not adopt one. They bark. They aren't friendly. They're fucking scary. If an adult cat has never had human contact, they'll never make good pets. But a regular cat from the shelter should be fine.

Some foster programs will take in very young feral cats, but they obviously require a lot of time and effort before they're adoptable. My tabby was part of a feral litter taken in as a kitten. He was a year old when they put him up for adoption. Now he's a chubby, super lazy 14 year old who hates the outdoors and loves gnawing on my hand.

I had a feral cat, the animal hospital my mom works at was going to put it down but she brought the cat home after shots and making sure she wasn't too dangerous. Couldn't adopt it out for some reason, but we took it in and she's been a great pet... not terribly social but a good cat. Probably about 15 years or so now. Last cat she had lived to 23

I had a friend who had a couple. They were indoor cats. The litter box was used and food disappeared, but the cats were almost never seen. Occasionally you'd see a brown streak (rapidly moving kitty rather than the product of them dragging their butt across your favorite bedspread), but that was it. I really don't even know how they were litter box trained.

We have an invisible cat like this, for the first year all we saw was perhaps a streak of grey, or a glimpse of a tail. But when you can catch him he turns in to such a baby he cuddles right next to your carotid artery and purrs.

My ex had a cat like this. He would come out at night when everyone was asleep and the other cats weren't near the food, but other than that, we never saw him. He was something like 14 or 15 years old and hadn't had most of his adult shots because they couldn't find him the day he was supposed to go to the vet.

Mine was a semi-feral when we adopted her at about 4 months, but she's since become a ridiculously cute people cat. She would take a swipe at our faces if we held her too long, but she's grown out of that.

I tend to agree with you. A stray cat gave birth to a litter of kittens in the neighborhood, and we managed to catch all of them when the kittens were around 3 months old. I'm a sucker for cats, so I forced my parents to adopt one of them. The cat wouldn't go near anyone else in my family and would scratch, bite, and hiss at anyone other than me that tried to get close to her. Anyways, she got pregnant while we were trying to get her in condition to get spayed and eventually gave birth in my bed while I was asleep.

tl;dr: raised a feral cat from 3months on and she eventually gave birth to kittens in my bed but wouldn't let anyone else touch her.

Oh, damn you, I have. Spent months getting to the point he let me touch him, and eventually pet him. After that, worked on picking him up. He'd get stiff as a board and give me the stupidest damned look. But we were working on it. Then he disappeared. I miss him so hard. :(

I love the furminator. Two of my cats HATE to get brushed, but at least I can get a lot off them in the limited time they allow me to brush them. The other cat will let me furminate him until he's bald, he loves it so much.

My mom (who is a veterinarian) bought me one for Christmas last year. It was one of those sarcastic "oh wowww...thannnkss" gifts. That is, until the first time I used it. Better than any brush by leaps and bounds. The cat loves it too. Furminators are amazing.

My cat still hates it. She'll tolerate it as long as I'm furminating toward the front but once I get to the tail area she gets super pissed off. I try to be gentle but it does not seem to matter how gentle/careful I am.

I started a project like this a few years back with my cat's fur but got so disgusted by how much dirt and crap was on the fur i put it aside. Seeing these pictures brought the revulsion right back again so the hair is going in the trash.

Good to know, but I am still basically grossed out by the idea knowing the weird ass crap my cat was always rolling in. He dragged inside a whole 4 ft strand of kelp one day and a piece of pizza on another. Maybe if I have a more normal cat someday.

Did he cooperate with the brushing? I have one cat that tries to eat the brush and another that walks around me in circles while trying to brush him. Quite the adventure whenever it's time for a brushin'.

Tip: Let the cat be in control of the brushing. Put it in front of their face and let them rub against it. Then run the brush down there back for a few seconds then stop and put it in front of them again.

When the cat gets to the point of just wanting to play it's time to stop. Don't let them get in the habit of thinking brush time = play time. After time you'll be able to brush longer and longer.

Or the cat will just do whatever the hell it wants, regardless of anything you do.

I'm guessing they used a Furminator or similar brush that is specifically designed to get out the undercoat, which a regular brushing won't grab. Shelters might brush their animals once in a while, but honestly, they usually don't have time or staff to brush each one as much as an actual owner would.

Clearly you are wrong. The one thing in the picture is a cat. The other thing is a ball of fur that used to be attached to a cat. It amazes me that in this day and age one could mistake a ball of cat fur for an actual cat.

You should get the ZOOM GROOM brush made by Kong. It's a purple rubber spiky thing that my cat LOVES. She begs to be brushed with it. She shivers when we brush her with it and it collects so much hair!

It's insane how much your cat resembles my cat, Archie. He also sheds shit ton of hair everywhere. Here's a cool lifehack that will save you tons of money: damp latex gloves work exceedingly well in removing cat hair from pretty much anything. And it costs next to nothing and completely reusable.